DEQ OKs Boardman shut-down plan

Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality has recommended approval of Portland General Electric‘s plan to close its Boardman coal plant by 2020.

DEQ staff today recommended a plan to close the Boardman facility no later than Dec. 31, 2020, according to Steve Corson, PGE spokesman. The plan requires PGE to install $75 million in interim pollution controls to reduce emissions of mercury, nitrogen oxide, and sulfur dioxide.

The decision now goes to the DEQ’s Environmental Quality Commission, who will have the final say on whether to approve PGE’s shut down plan. The EQC will vote on Dec. 9.